Great Harvest Bread Co. owner Dan Centurione has put his own mark on his franchise store on South Main Street in Ann Arbor.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
But the Ann Arbor couple have made their own mark on their Great Harvest Bread Company store: They have created 80 percent of their bread and cookies recipes, buy all but their wheat from local sources, live just minutes from their Woodland Plaza store and have strong ties to the community.
Like the ancient centaur of Greek mythology, these locally owned franchises are half-local, half-chain and have carved a unique niche in the local Ann Arbor business landscape.Â
Some have near autonomy from their national headquarters while others closely tow the company logo and product line.
It can confuse customers, said Carol Kamm, owner of the iSoldIt franchise in Ann Arbor, which offers on-line auction services.
"There’s a lot of misunderstanding," she said. "Most franchises are locally owned and operated. People who work here are local. We are creating local jobs. But we’re not viewed as totally independent.”Â
Think Local First, which has helped light the fire under the Ann Arbor buy-local movement, restricts membership to locally owned businesses.
But it’s not always clear-cut what that means. Big box chains such as Wal-Mart are obviously not part of the buy local movement.
 “We’re not interested in promoting Dominos Pizza,” said Ingrid Ault, executive director of Think Local First. Two local franchises - Great Harvest Bread and Cartridge World - are members, Ault said.Â
But not all locally owned franchises would be allowed. They must meet a set of criteria that address independence from the chain, she said.
Think Local First is a little less provincial than the 3/50 Project, a national movement that promotes local businesses. It defines local businesses as those that have no brand name recognition, no corporate office, no preferred vendor list and no vendor pricing.
 Still, local franchises see themselves as local businesses. Like many of the local franchise owners, the Centuriones wanted support when they decided to open their own business in 1993. The laissez faire approach of Montana-based Great Harvest Bread Company fit their style.
 “If McDonalds is one end of the food franchise spectrum, Great Harvest is the other end,” Janene said. “You’re free to create the business in your own image. You make it what you want.”Â
She offers her own store as an example. Their Ann Arbor shop sells rustic artisanal bread with a rustic, hand-made look. When they owned a Great Harvest in Birmingham, they catered to a different audience with a different product.
 “Birmingham wanted the perfect-looking loaf, a very constant high-end look, like out of Martha Stewart. We even had one customer who wanted his bread branded with his initials. You would not find that in Ann Arbor,” Janene said.Â
While they wanted to open a bread shop, they wanted help.Â
“When we first started, we weren’t sure we could be artisanal bread bakers,” Janene said. But they also wanted to make their own mark on their business. While all Great Harvests share the same logo, they are free to make most other decisions, from what they sell to what they charge to where they buy ingredients.Â
Their strong ties to the community - they give away 10 percent of what they bake each day to the community - make them local, Janene said.Â
Still, she said, some don’t see them that way. When the couple wanted to sell their bread at the Ann Arbor’s Farmers’ Market, they were rejected because they were a franchise.
Among other owners finding their place as franchise operators is Gary Fitzpatrick, who owns  three Learning Express stores, one in Ann Arbor and two in Ohio. The chain has 140 stores nationwide.Â
“Most of our customers consider us local. I don’t think most know we are a franchise,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have a high level of service and we’re on a first name basis with our customers.”Â
The chain offers a support structure for advertising along with the buying power that comes from large numbers, Fitzpatrick said. There’s autonomy enough to select your own inventory, although Learning Express makes recommendations, he said.Â
“But the biggest benefit is having contact with other owners, for friendship and ideas of things they have tried.”Â
And there’s the chance to make a local impact. Fitzpatrick bought inventory from local Constructive Eating, makers of playful eating utensils for children.Â
“We started to sell them in our store and as a result, 140 stores picked them up,” Fitzpatrick said.Â
While Lisa Haanpaa is part of a national chain of 72 stores that cater to backyard birding, she sees herself more like a local shopkeeper, she said. She owns the Wild Bird Center in Brighton and bought the franchise to the north Ann Arbor store in August, and feels like an independent business owner, she said.Â
“It’s all about me making it, the franchise doesn’t have a stake if I make it or not. It’s about my ability to bring people into the store.”Â
Still, she wanted the support that a franchise brings when she was first starting out, she said.
"Now, there aren’t many advantages (to being a franchise). There are some vendor discounts, but they are slight.”
 And as a franchise owner, she’s bound to carry at least some lines of feeders and seed. iSoldIt Ann Arbor in January will move from being a locally owned franchise to just being locally owned, said Kamm. When she started five years, she needed the guidance that comes from a national brand.Â
“At the time, the concept of a eBay store was a relatively new one and there wasn’t a lot of independent support.”Â
Her franchise agreement with the about 70-store chain with headquarters in California will end in January and Kamm said she won’t renew it. She’ll relaunch her store, although she hasn’t settled on a new name yet.Â
“We’re going to relaunch, but have the same people, the same staff, the same service,” she said. “But now we’ll be really local.”
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